Does being a mum make you better at your job?

Why the cult of motherhood isn't helpful in the workplace

Another day, another “being a mum has made me a better person” think piece. And once again, I cringe at the cult of motherhood that these sorts of pieces prop up. Actually, scrap cringe, I have a bit of a rant.

She explores the idea that pre-motherhood, she was a time-wasting dilettante in the office: ‘When I look back on the old days, I realize that I spent most of my waking hours procrastinating, sulking, obsessing over trivial problems, and engaging in aimless tasks that added up to nothing. I'm going to bet you do the same thing.’

Well no, Heather, I don’t. And nor do any of the other non-mums in the Red office. Well, maybe sometimes we do – Mailonline can sneak up on you like that – but then so do some of the working mums.

The thing is, we're all great at our jobs most of the time, not-so-great a little bit of the time. We don’t define our professional selves by whether or not we have a small child at home. Possession of one does not make us better, or worse, it’s just one of the many many responsibilities that we all have to juggle alongside our working day – from ageing parents to partners to friends to health checks.

Heather may well feel that motherhood was the making of her, and that’s terrific, but don’t go sanctifying it as the only route the rest of us can take. We’ve got enough of that sort of nonsense already – yes, Helen Goodman MP, I mean you.

‘Before I had kids, I had no ambition,’ writes Heather. ‘….and my leisure time was no fun, either.’

I’m sorry about that, Heather, and I’m thrilled for you that life has taken a more positive turn, but let’s not do that divisive thing of comparing working mums to working non-mums. Aren't we all after more flexibility, more productive ways of making our working days work for us?

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